


Learning Curve

by randi2204



Series: Steampunk!Seven [9]
Category: Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-22
Updated: 2012-02-22
Packaged: 2017-10-31 13:48:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/344726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randi2204/pseuds/randi2204
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>JD's starting to come into his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Learning Curve

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Not mine, no money.

If it wasn’t metal – or didn’t blow up, or wasn’t a _part_ of something that blew up – Josiah didn’t know how to work with it.

 

_All right_ , JD allowed, _that wasn’t entirely true_. But Vin didn’t bring his idea to Josiah anyway; he brought it to _JD_ , and _that_ made his chest swell with pride.

 

Even though he’d been deaf for more than an hour after firing the big gun that Josiah had made, Vin still wanted the thing.  It had completely obliterated (damn, JD liked that word after Miz Travis had said it.  _Obliterated_ – and it described just what it sounded like) the target when Vin had fired the live round.  Well, he’d had to wait until the feeling came back to his hand before firing that, since the power of the gun with just the blank had made his fingers numb.

 

The _bad_ thing was, after the second shot, Vin had noticed a ringing in his ears, and he’d had a hell of a time trying to hear anything in the saloon that evening.  So while he really _wanted_ the gun – and JD didn’t even want to think about the dreamy look on Vin’s face when he’d said that, because it made him think about Buck and the battery pack and he’d had _no idea_ you could make an engine that small – he didn’t want to go deaf every time he fired it.  Even stuffing some of Nathan’s gauze in his ears hadn’t helped much, but at least he hadn’t had to listen to Nathan scold him for it.

 

Too bad JD hadn’t been able to get away with not listening.   _Oh, well,_ he thought, _at least I could sympathize with Vin afterwards…_

 

And yes, he’d had to consult with Josiah a little on the design, but then Josiah had clapped him on the shoulder, nearly knocking him down, and said that it looked good.  He’d rarely had a prouder moment than that.

 

He and Vin had carved the inner and outer shells of the ear mufflers (Vin had scoffed at the name, but _he_ couldn’t come with anything either) from some wood, and JD had put the heaviest wool he could find in between, then sealed it with pitch and more cloth.

 

Now that they were done, the ear mufflers were about ready to test.  He had Vin put the mufflers over his ears, and then bound them down with another strip of cloth.

 

The first test was simple.  He stood in front of Vin, waving to get his attention, then said, loudly, “Can you hear me?”

 

A grin split Vin’s face.  “I can barely hear ya, kid,” he replied, almost shouting.

 

JD grinned so wide his face ached.  Somehow, he refrained from jumping up and down like a child in glee.  _It works!_

 

Buck was wrong; working with Josiah in the foundry that had been the church wasn’t a waste of his time at all, not if he could do _this._

**Author's Note:**

> This follows on from Mendax's ficlet [here](http://mendax.dreamwidth.org/12951.html), and Todesengel's ficlet [here](http://todeskun.dreamwidth.org/175029.html?#cutid8).


End file.
